


More Than Hope, More Than Faith

by rulesofthebeneath (radishphilosophy)



Category: Choices: High School Story: Class Act (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, High School Musical - Freeform, and healthy conversations!, musical theatre, sappy duet, slight relationship insecurity!, these kids are too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 19:45:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18598153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radishphilosophy/pseuds/rulesofthebeneath
Summary: Ajay has an idea about a duet he and Grace could sing.





	More Than Hope, More Than Faith

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this! Title from "Breaking Free" from High School Musical, because I'm a piece of trash.

The set of The Enchanted Kingdom was broken down on Monday during strike. The techs took a slightly maniacal delight in smashing apart all of their hard work. Grace didn’t quite understand- she was a little sad to see it all go- but she didn’t miss the piece of spike tape near the wings that had tripped her during the performance and almost caused an embarrassing moment. She ripped it up with an acceptable amount of vigor, then wadded it up and threw it into the trash can.

 

“Keep that up and you really will be doing basketball this season,” Erin quipped. Grace laughed.

 

“Grace! I need your help with the lights!” Skye called from beside a ladder backstage.

 

“Why me?!” she shouted back, walking dutifully over to the redhead.

 

“You’re the only one who isn’t scared of heights… or  _ just refused to help _ ,” Skye growled, glaring daggers at Ajay, who was just passing by them with a huge box of costumes in his arms. He simply smirked.

 

“I’m doing something else!” he defended himself, making a gesture as close to surrendering as he could with his arms full.

 

“Sure,” Skye rolled her eyes. Ajay stuck his tongue out at her, then tossed Grace a wink before crossing the stage to the other side where the costume storage was. Grace impressed herself by only blushing a little bit and only lingering her eyes for a second too long on the back of his head before turning back to Skye. 

 

“So, what do you need me to do?”

 

“I need you to get up there and grab the little gels- the colored sheets- from the lights. They just slide out from in front. Tell me when you’re done with each one and I’ll move the ladder over- it has wheels, you just need to hold on.”

 

Grace sized the ladder up, then shrugged and started to climb.

 

“Bold soul,” called Rory from the back of the house, where he was messing with Ajay’s phone to make it play broadway songs out of the speakers. “Hope we won’t have to scrape you off the floor in a second,”

 

“Shut up, Rory!” Grace called back, only hesitating for a second before climbing higher. Finding the first lamp on the row, she slid a small purple gel off the light.

 

“Great, you can just drop it down here!” Skye called. “Now hold on!” She rolled the ladder a few feet to the side, putting the second lamp within Grace’s reach.

 

Grace and Skye slowly worked through the rest of the gels while the rest of the cast and crew finished breaking down the set. They were accompanied by the best broadway songs, cheers emanating the room when Hamilton came on and Rory did an impressive version of the Guns ‘n Ships rap. The entire room scream-sang along to Mamma Mia and organized an impressive harmony for You Can’t Stop the Beat. 

 

By eight, the cast and crew were exhausted. All the scraps of wood from the splintered set had been swept away, every costume folded and put in storage, and each spike mark peeled up and launched into the nearest trash can. Rory finally relinquished Ajay’s phone before bidding everyone goodnight and going to check on his mom, whose procedure was in the morning. Grace gave him a hug.

 

“Tell your mom hi for me, okay? And that I’ll come visit her soon.”

 

“You got it,” Rory smiled at her, digging his keys out of his pocket. The rest of the cast and crew followed after a few minutes, doing a last check to make sure nothing had been left out of the strike schedule. Grace lingered in the house, making her way slowly back up to the stage. She had just sat herself down, legs dangling off the lip of the stage into the orchestra pit, when Ajay suddenly reappeared and plopped down beside her, an exhausted sigh escaping his lips.

 

“What a long day,” he said, groaning slightly. “And I couldn’t manage to get you alone for  _ any _ of it.” He dropped his head down onto her shoulder.

 

Butterflies exploded in Grace’s stomach. She still wasn’t used to this- having a boyfriend, being the subject of someone’s romantic affection- but so far, she was loving every second of it. She boldly reached up a hand to card her fingers through his hair, making him smile.

 

The relationship was only two days old, measuring from the moment they had stolen in Ajay’s car after the cast party to this new moment, full of potential that electrified the air. Grace’s heart pounded in her chest, and she tried to quell it, worried that Ajay could feel her heartbeat and then he’d know that she was nervous.

 

He did seem to sense it, regardless of if he could feel her heart pounding, and he eased up slightly. He scooted back to give her a little space, and she found her shoulders a little lighter.

 

“Sorry. Um, I didn’t mean to-”

 

He cut her off. “No, don’t worry! It’s so new, it’s all weird to me too. It literally took like, all of my courage to come talk to you. It’s really okay.” He reached out a hand to take hers lightly, weaving their fingers together. “I should be the one apologizing, anyways, about lunch today.”

 

Grace couldn’t help but laugh. “I was grateful for it, honestly. It spared either of us from tripping over our words trying to tell everybody.” 

Ajay laughed too, relaxing slightly. They had planned to tell their group of friends that they were dating at lunch, but neither could figure out how to drop the bomb. It was only when Natalie had reached down to the floor to pick up a stray pencil and noticed their joined hands under the table that the truth had come out. 

 

“It  _ was _ pretty funny,” Ajay admitted, ducking his head in mock shame. Neither of them said anything for a second, letting the silence move from comfortable to slightly awkward. Then, Ajay spoke up.

 

“So, I was thinking…” he trailed off.

 

“That’s not good,” Grace joked, prompting him to shove her softly.

 

“I was thinking about something you said to me at homecoming. Admittedly, I’ve thought about it several times since then, but we’re in a place where I can actually bring it up now.”

 

“Oh, geez, what was it?” Grace asked, a little worried. She looked back on her dance with Ajay at homecoming as magical, sure… but also with a little embarrassment when she remembered how awkwardly she’d behaved, convinced that her huge crush on the director was glaringly obvious.

 

“I was talking about how I’d done some musicals a few years ago, and you said we should do a duet. I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit thinking about that, and I had an idea for a song we could do.”

 

“Yeah? What song?”

 

Ajay buried his face in his hands. “You’re gonna laugh. I already regret bringing it up.”

 

“Noooo, what  _ is it?? _ ” Grace whined, pulling his hands away from his face. He suddenly jumped up and jogged to the back of the house, dragging her by the hand along with him. 

 

“It’s easier if I just play it, then I don’t have to say the name. Just don’t laugh.” His face turned slightly red as he grabbed his phone, scrolling through a bunch of albums and selecting one. He plugged his phone into the sound board and connected it to the speakers, then purposefully avoided eye contact with Grace when the song started playing, the first notes so familiar. 

 

Grace started laughing, and Ajay’s face flushed all the way. 

 

“I knew this was gonna happen! See if I ever do a duet with  _ you _ , if this is how you treat me,” he teased her before she could even get a word out.

 

“I didn’t know you liked  _ HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL _ ,” Grace nearly shouted before doubling over with giggles. “Oh my god, Ajay, you really  _ are _ a  _ total nerd _ .”

 

“I DON’T LIKE HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL,” Ajay shouted back. “Just… some of the songs are good, okay? Do you know how hard it is to find a good, not overdone duet? It’s really hard!” He aggressively hit the pause button on the sound board and waited, arms crossed in front of his chest and a blush on his face, for her to stop laughing.

 

Grace composed herself and straightened back up. “Alright, I’m in” she smiled.

 

Ajay blinked several times, startled. “You- you’re… what?”

 

“I’m in!” she said. “Let’s do it.”

 

Ajay was floored by the turn of events, but handled it like a pro. “Okay then.” He smiled to himself and started the song over. He took Grace’s hand and wove their fingers together, walking towards the stage.

 

“ _ We’re soarin’, flyin’, there’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach,” _ he started them off, his tenor startlingly clear.

 

“ _ If we’re tryin’, so we’re breakin’ free,”  _ she followed, her eyes meeting his for a tentative smile. Her voice was well-trained from choirs in elementary and middle school, a slightly breathy lyric mezzo. 

 

“ _ You know the world can see us in a way that’s different from who we are,”  _ Ajay continued, quickly jumping up the stairs and then turning to face her once they were both up on the stage.

 

“ _ Creating space between us, ‘til we’re separate hearts” _ Grace pulled back, letting their hands slowly break apart, just like Troy and Gabriella had in the movie. Ajay recognized the move and went with it, eyes gleaming.

 

“ _ But your faith, it gives me strength, strength to believe,”  _ they sang together, Ajay hitting the harmony parts with the practiced ease of someone who’d clearly watched High School Musical several times before. A grin grew on his face as he sucked in a breath for the next part.

 

“ _ We’re breakin’ free!”  _ he nearly shouted, nearly causing Grace to collapse in giggles again as he started doing stupid dance moves to the faster beat of the rest of the song.

 

“ _ We’re soarin’,” _ she belted,

 

“ _ Flyin’,”  _ then together,

 

“ _ There’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach!” _

 

As they continued the song, Ajay pulled Grace into a ballroom dance hold, his hand at her waist and hers on his shoulder. He led her around as they sang, taking the liberty to spin her once in awhile, making her laugh breathlessly and mess up the words.

 

For her part, Grace did her best to not step on his feet and to echo him as he led them in a dance around the stage. She felt the excitement grow in her heart from his proximity, from his hand at her waist, for the dopey smile stretched across his face. The beat picked up again and he released her as they went into the bridge.

 

“ _ More than hope, more than faith,” _

 

_ “This is true, this is fate!” _

 

_ “And together we see it comin’...”  _ He took her hand once more as they harmonized.

 

_ “More than you, more than me,” _

 

_ “Not a want, but a need!”  _ She tugged on his arm, signaling for him to spin her. He gathered her into his arms, pressing a quick surprise kiss to her cheek before spinning her back out.

 

_ “Both of us, breakin’ free!”  _

 

Grace struck a silly diva pose to carry her high note on “ _ Soarin’ _ ,” causing Ajay to smile so wide that he nearly forgot to continue the song. She unfroze to jump wildly around the stage, caught up in all the energy of the song. Her enthusiasm was so infectious, Ajay could only follow, pulling her in close for the last part of the song.

 

“ _ You know the world can see us in a way that’s different from who we are”  _ they sang together, so close that their foreheads nearly touched. They were back in the same space, breathing in the same air, but Grace felt no nerves in her stomach. She was slightly out of breath from the singing and dancing, but she felt stronger, bolder than she’d been in a while. That was why, when Ajay cupped her cheek and quietly whispered, “Can I kiss you?”, that she tugged him forward, taking initiative and pressing their lips together.

 

Her fingers went straight to his hair again- it was so  _ soft _ and  _ silky _ , and she loved the shiver that ran down his spine when she ran her fingers through it. He responded enthusiastically, one hand wrapped around her back reminiscent of the dance hold and one with his thumb on her cheek, the rest of his hand wrapped around to stroke the hair at the nape of her neck. 

 

A few moments later they parted, Grace even more breathless than before and Ajay completely unable to contain his grin. He let her breathe for a second before kissing her again, quickly. 

She let out a soft sound of surprise and chased his lips, pulling him in for a third kiss before finally relinquishing him. Still holding hands, the two ventured down to collect their things from the front row of seats in the house before bursting out into the dark evening.

 

“You take my breath away, Grace.”

 

“Same here. I’m a regular asthmatic around you.”

 

Ajay was stunned into laughter. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

 

She nodded, leaning her head onto his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

 

“You think we got past being nervous around each other?”

 

“Maybe,” she said with a smile. “Probably.”

 

“I’ll get you out of your shell somehow!” Ajay exclaimed, his voice and her subsequent giggle echoing off the trees and into the clear night sky.

 


End file.
